Eagles selected for Rugby World Cup preview match against Scotland

HOUSTON, Texas – The starting roster for the Men’s Eagles’ IRB Rugby World Cup preview match against Scotland at BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday, June 7, has been announced.

Shalom Suniula will get his first start in an Eagles jersey at flyhalf behind Mike Petri in Houston. Suniula earned his first two caps earlier this year in the World Cup Qualifier series against Uruguay and scored a try in the second-leg victory.

“We’re looking for Shalom to do what we want out of our 10s: run the show, be an organizer, be a leader,” Eagles Head Coach Mike Tolkin said. “He has athleticism, a nice step, he can shoot holes and take advantage of that. And he has a little bit of flair to his game, which we like. He’s a real skillful player.”

After returning to the Eagles for the first leg of the Qualifier in Montevideo, Hayden Smith missed out on the second leg in favor of Louis Stanfill. Smith re-signed with Saracens in the Aviva Premiership this year following a stint in the National Football League and has earned a starting spot at lock alongside Stanfill.

“Hayden’s looking tighter, he’s gotten rid of the extra bulk,” Tolkin said. “He’s made progress from March and has a road to go, but he’s put himself in a position to play.”

Smith’s Saracens teammate Chris Wyles will start at fullback between fellow Premiership star Blaine Scully and Luke Hume on the wings. Todd Clever will partner Scott LaValla at the flanker position and captain the Eagles in his 57th cap, while Cam Dolan will start at number eight for a sixth consecutive match.

Seamus Kelly, who finished his collegiate rugby career at the University of California, Berkeley this year, will wear the no. 13 jersey alongside Andrew Suniula in the centers.

“I look back on the last couple years, especially two years ago during my first summer tour,” Tolkin said. “We were very thin. If we had injuries we were in a lot of trouble. The drop-off was way down and we didn’t sub very much. Now we know whoever goes in is going to perform, so we have no qualms about our bench.”

Scotland also toured the States in 2002 ahead of the 2003 World Cup in Australia, where the Eagles last faced the Scots. The schedule is reflected this year, as the two nations will play each other this weekend and meet again at the World Cup in England in 2015.

BBVA Compass Stadium will host a Tier 1 nation for the third time in as many years Saturday. Italy and Ireland each set new attendance records in 2012 and 2013, respectively, with U.S. tour stops in Houston.

The World Cup preview match kicks off from BBVA Compass Stadium at 7:00 P.M. CT Saturday and will be broadcast live on Universal Sports. Follow @USARugby on Twitter for live match updates and join the social media conversation with the #USAvSCO hashtag.

Guest - Campbell2345

Guest - 5Lock4ward

Super bummed that Manoa is out of the line-up. Am now 0-3 at attending Eagles games looking to see him play since he began making himself available again. Hoping that Danny Barrett will make his debut and shine; even get a pro-contract out of it. Excited to see what S. Suniula can do at fly-half, since nobody has really grabbed the 10 shirt for us since Hercus left. To the gent claiming a 50-0 blow-out you might be under-valuing our pros a tad and to those remembering Ireland's match last year and expecting victory over a 'weaker Scotland' try to recall that Manoa was playing and 10+ of Ireland's best were with the Lions down under at the time while Scotland is missing only a couple of their first xv. All that said I'll be there shouting and baking in the Houston sun. Go USA!

Guest - RugbyDUck

I think part of Samu's contract stipulations with the Premiership (mostly because the Saints won the title) is that they have to have one rest period before partaking in the June tests. England's roster last night against All Blacks featured NONE of their Saints players. It sucks only cos Scotland has Richie Gray in their second row but I have enough confidence in Hayden Smith to know that Richie ain't going to have it easy.

Guest - 5Lock4ward

It's less his locking skills that they'll be missing and more about what he offers as a ball carrier and tackler. Plus he's just my fav. player and I'd like to see him play for us live. I went to the Canada match in Kingston, ONT, the Maori match in Philly and now this one in Houston hoping to see him and he's not played in any of the 3. I think the main reason he isn't playing is b/c his wife gave birth to a little boy about a week ago. Can't blame him for sitting this one out. Hopefully he'll play against Canada and Japan for the Pacific Nations. I'm sure I'll see him line-up against the AB's in Chicago come Nov.